You will find FDC & Stamps collection in my blog.FDC were sent by my friends from different parts of world.Selective FDCs are displayed here starting from 2007.

May 15, 2012

Chinese Classic Novel “Outlaws of the Marsh” FDC from TAIWAN

FDC Name:Chinese Classic Novel “Outlaws of the Marsh”

Issue Date:25th APR'2012

Details:

To promote understanding about Chinese classical literature, Chunghwa Post is releasing a series of stamps based on Outlaws of the Marsh, one of the four great classic novels of Chinese literature. The first set of four stamps, was released on April 25, 2012, features “Demons Released,” “Slaying the Tiger on Jingyang Ridge,” “Mountain God Temple on a Stormy Night,” and “Knocking the Lord of the West Dead.” The stamp designs follow:

1.Demons Released (NT$5): Seeing the plague raging in the capital, the Song emperor Renzong sends Marshal Hong to Dragon and Tiger Mountain to summon the Divine Teacher to come and pray for the plague to go away. When Marshal Hong sees the inscription on the stele in the Hall of the Subdued Demons, which reads “open when Hong is here,” he orders the stele to be pushed over and the ground dug open. Suddenly, a puff of black air rises from underground, turning into a hundred and some rays of golden light that shoot into the sky in all different directions. Thus transpires the birth of the 108 heroes of the Liangshan Marsh and the start of the novel.

2.Slaying the Tiger on Jingyang Ridge (NT$5): The local government issues a warning about a tiger on Jingyang Ridge and advises travelers only to cross the ridge in the safety of a large group. Cocky Wu Song disregards the warning and crosses the ridge alone. Suddenly, a huge tiger with a white forehead and fierce-looking eyes leaps out at him. Though in a state of shock, Wu Song bravely fights the tiger and eventually paralyses it. The chapter features especially good descriptions of Wu Song’s fearlessness and valor.

3.Mountain God Temple on a Stormy Night (NT$10): After being framed by Lu Qian and the Grand Marshal Gao, Lin Chong is sentenced to face-tattooing and exiled to Cangzhou to manage a fodder depot. But who would guess that the grand marshal would send Lu Qian after him? On one stormy night, Lin Chong stays in a mountain god temple instead of the fodder depot so as to get out of the snow. Meanwhile, Lu Qian and others set fire to the fodder depot in an attempt to murder Lin Chong. When Lin Chong overhears them talking about what they did, he gets mad and kills them. Evil has its retribution. The events in this chapter are key to explaining why Lin Chong becomes an outlaw of Liangshan Marsh.

4.Knocking the Lord of the West Dead (NT$25): Butcher Zheng Tu, a.k.a. Lord of the West, is a bully in Weizhou. To save Jin Cuilian and her father from his clutches and to uphold justice on their behalf, Lu Da intentionally pisses Zheng Tu off while pretending to purchase meat from him. A fight breaks out, and Lu Da punches Zheng Tu to death. Later, Lu becomes a monk in Mt. Wutai, where the abbot gives him the Buddhist name Zhishen. Lu Da seems to be rash but can be sophisticated at the same time.